Online Reporter
Word From The Market
Tina Nleya
ZIMBABWE stands at a critical crossroads in defining the future of its food system.
Over the past decade, rapid urbanisation, rising cost-of-living pressures, dietary shifts and fragmented agricultural markets have produced an unintended consequence: the increasing dominance of cheap, ultra-processed junk foods in both rural and urban households.
UNICEF’s recent warning that Zimbabwe is becoming highly vulnerable to the spread of unhealthy, energy-dense foods is a stark reminder that the country must urgently rethink how food reaches its people.
Last week’s instalment highlighted that the issue with fresh food is not merely nutritional; it is structural.
Migration trends, population shifts and the geographic separation of production and consumption are reshaping Zimbabwe’s food ecosystem in ways that we may not have fully anticipated.
A growing urban population now consuming more food outside traditional home settings relies on fast, predictable and accessible diets.
Meanwhile, the majority of fresh, nutritious produce remains concentrated in rural and peri-urban areas, where markets are fragmented.
The result is an apparent paradox: Zimbabwe is a highly productive agricultural nation, yet healthy food often struggles to reach the dinner tables where it is needed most.
To move from junk food invasion to fresh food inclusion, Zimbabwe must strengthen the systems and markets that move fresh food from rural fields to urban consumers efficiently, affordably and consistently.
This transformation requires not only better production but also better aggregation, improved logistics, strong data systems and modernised markets.
Urbanisation reshapes diets everywhere in the world, and Zimbabwe is no exception.
Cities are expanding faster than ever as young people migrate in search of jobs, stability and opportunity.
With this shift, diets are increasingly shaped by the realities of urban life: long working hours, tight budgets, limited cooking time and the convenience of processed foods.
Ultra-processed foods dominate not because they are superior, but because they possess two decisive advantages — long shelf life and efficient distribution networks.
A packet of crisps can survive poor roads, long distances and inconsistent refrigeration; a crate of tomatoes cannot.
When urban households weigh their options, the cheapest and most predictable — not the healthiest — food often wins.
The UNICEF assessment reflects a global truth: Countries with weak fresh food supply chains are highly vulnerable to “junk food takeovers”.
Zimbabwe’s challenge is, therefore, not simply to promote nutrition or encourage better eating habits, but to build a food system where fresh produce is as available, affordable and accessible as processed foods.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture is diverse, productive and resilient.
From Mutoko’s tomatoes to Honde Valley’s bananas, from Chiweshe’s leafy greens to Gokwe’s pumpkins, the country produces extraordinary quantities of horticultural crops.
But without efficient markets, these products cannot compete with the convenience of ultra-processed foods flooding supermarkets and tuck shops.
The fundamental problem is fragmentation.
Rural farmers often produce in small volumes, face high transport costs, lack cold storage and cannot predict market demand.
Urban retailers want consistency, reliable supply and quality but struggle to source from individual farmers.
The solution lies in reshaping the middle of the value chain, particularly the point where food moves from farm to city.
Transporting small consignments to urban centres is unsustainable for most farmers.
A farmer with 10 crates of vegetables spends more on transport than the total value of their produce.
But when aggregation occurs at scale — say, 500 crates pooled from a group of farmers — the economics improve dramatically.
This is where the village business unit (VBU) becomes transformative.
VBUs, if strengthened, can become Zimbabwe’s version of Rwanda’s green corridors, serving as aggregation hubs, offering basic cold storage, connecting farmers to city markets, reducing transport costs, enabling bulk sales and improving product quality through grading and packaging services.
When fully operational, VBUs can drive down the price of fresh foods in urban centres and raise the incomes of rural farmers. AMA’s expansion and modernisation of these VBUs is, therefore, not just good for farmers; it is essential for public health.
Digital systems
Data is the new currency of modern agriculture.
With the Agricultural Information Repository System (AIRS), AMA is developing a national digital backbone that can transform the way markets operate.
The repository system will also allow AMA and other stakeholders to monitor prices of fresh foods.
AIRS can support fresh food inclusion by providing real-time prices, predicting shortages and gluts, linking urban retailers to rural suppliers, enabling digital payments and contracts, and guiding farmers on what to grow and when.
A unified national data system reduces uncertainty and strengthens planning on both the supply and demand sides.
Farmers stand to benefit immensely from this shift.
To remain competitive, producers must diversify crops to meet urban demand, focus on quality and grading, participate in aggregation initiatives, follow market intelligence and embrace packaging that meets urban retail standards.
Urbanisation is not a threat; it is the largest market opportunity Zimbabwean farmers have ever had.
Markets must feed the nation
The rise of junk food is not a moral failure or a cultural shift; it is a market failure.
Fresh food will reclaim Zimbabwean tables when its supply chains are strengthened, its markets modernised and its distribution networks made efficient.
Zimbabwe produces enough nutritious food.
The task now is ensuring it reaches people affordably, consistently and safely.
With strong markets, modern VBUs, effective cold chains and smart data systems, Zimbabwe can turn the tide from junk food invasion to a new era of fresh food inclusion.
And AMA, supported by the Government, is positioned at the centre of this transformation, driving structured markets, supporting farmers and ensuring that the food that nourishes the nation reaches every household.
Tina Nleya is AMA’s marketing and public relations manager. She can be contacted on email: [email protected]. Word From The Market is a column produced by AMA to promote market-driven production.
